


il Mentalist

by olivewithwings



Category: Dr. STONE (Manga)
Genre: Assorted Dr. STONE Characters, Crash Landing, Gen, Implied Dr. Xeno/Stanley Snyder, Inspired by Studio Ghibli, M/M, Major Character Injury, Rescue
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-05
Updated: 2020-06-05
Packaged: 2021-03-03 19:20:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,674
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24540691
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/olivewithwings/pseuds/olivewithwings
Summary: Gen has been captured by Dr. Xeno. He's slowly turning his prison into a garden, hoping to stall the American's until the Kingdom of Science comes to rescue him.
Relationships: Asagiri Gen/Ishigami Senkuu
Comments: 14
Kudos: 201





	il Mentalist

**Author's Note:**

> This was inspired by a conversation with my friend Scandiacamoons on Twitter, about how Gen would escape the factory fortress!  
> She made some beautiful art for this fic so please check it out and follow her for more incredible content!!!!!  
> I just saw Porco Rosso recently and they just got a plane so the connection was obvious lol  
> Also the entire time I wrote this I was listening to il Porco Rosso on loop so if you want the whole experience I recommend doing that.

Dr. Xeno’s fortress had it all, cattle grazing in pastures, hands to work the land and fish the waters-- though Gen hadn’t seen much of them since his arrival-- and acres of corn surrounding the entire area. 

Exactly what they were searching for. With all that corn, producing enough revival serum to de-petrify the population would be a cinch; or at least that’s what Senku made it seem like…

Of course, infiltrating the American’s stronghold had its risks. For one, they’d developed technology far enough to have guns and planes. But the riskier part came to light once Gen was taken inside the fortress. Dr. Xeno seemed fascinated by him, watching him carefully, questioning him about the situation in Japan-- whether or not he used the lie detector during the interrogations depended on his mood. 

But the doctor wasn’t the only one who was always around; there was the pilot too, Stanley. He often hung around the walled courtyard, which housed a trio of scraggly little trees, that Gen was slowly transforming into a flower garden. He would smoke, leaning against the rock wall, while he watched Gen tend to the flowers. 

“Aren’t you being too calm about this, magician?” he asked, sending a smoke ring spiraling up into the cloud streaked sky.

“Not really,” Gen replied, pinching a dying flower between his fingers and pulling it off the otherwise healthy plant. He tossed the dying flower onto the soil near the base of the other plants, which swayed in the gentle breeze which swept through the courtyard. “This is like a vacation for me compared to the workload in the kingdom of science.”

Gen smiled over his shoulder at Stanley, who looked him up and down, taking a slow drag of his cigarette.

“Don’t you have any tricks you could show me?” Stanley asked, exhaling the smoke without theatrics. It was stolen away by the breeze.

“Sorry,” Gen apologized with a closed eye smile, “I’m a little out of practice. And Dr. Xeno-chan took my supplies.”

“Figures,” Stanley snorted, smoke whisping from his nose. “Dr. X is just jealous of all the time we spend together.” With a suspiciously self-satisfied grin, Stanley pushed himself away from the wall, stubbing his smouldering cigarette on the stones. “See ya later little magician.” 

Stanley meandered out of the courtyard, leaving Gen by himself. The instant the pilot disappeared from sight Gen’s put on smile fell away, replaced by a grimace and he used his sleeve to cover his nose and mouth.

“Smells awful,” he muttered, turning back to the flowers he was tending. 

Gen hated cigarette smoke. It made him cough, and it stank like the sleazy producers who tried to get him drunk after the variety shows he appeared on back in modern times. 

Dr. Xeno didn’t seem to like cigarettes either. In fact, Stanley was the only one Gen had ever seen smoking around the fortress. He wasn’t sure why Dr. Xeno would take the time to make something he hated, but he figured it might have been something like payment. Dr. Xeno had called Stanley his employee. 

It had been a little over a month since Gen had arrived at the fortress. He knew Senku and the rest of the Perseus crew had found Stanley’s crashed plane-- they’d salvaged it before he, Chrome, and Kohaku had been sent out to scout the area. He didn’t think finding, or creating, the materials to repair the plane would be a speedy process, but he was a bit surprised that the combat team hadn’t attacked the stronghold yet. 

That must have been because of Senku reminding everyone to keep a level head. Gen would be fine, he was a world-class mentalist and one of the five generals of the kingdom of science after all.

A songbird landed in the thin branches of one of the trees, warbling a tune. The breeze picked up, tousling Gen’s long fringe. He closed his eyes with a sigh, feeling the dappled sun warm his back through the tree’s sparse canopy.

_Just a little longer._

Senku might have called it baseless superstition but Gen knew he wouldn’t be confined to the fortress much longer. It was Senku coming for him after all. 

\----

He’d been so careful, keeping track of his lies, making sure to talk around questions when possible, and only omit or stretch the truth. But Dr. Xeno thought he’d caught him in a lie, although it could have been a bluff. Or maybe it was outright intimidation, Dr. Xeno’s hand was on his throat. 

“Can’t we talk about this,” Gen wheezed, tears springing in the corners of his eyes. “like adults?”

“I’m tired of your games, Asagiri Gen,” Dr. Xeno replied, tightening his grip on Gen’s throat.”

“You should answer him, little magician,” Stanley interjected, an unlit cigarette dangling from his lips. “Dr. X is real scary when he’s mad.”

The stone claws on Dr. Xeno’s gloved hand were not sharp but they dug bluntly into Gen’s skin, making him wince.

“I told you,” Gen said slowly, Dr. Xeno’s grip loosening minutely so Gen could speak easier. “I don’t know where--”

Dr. Xeno tightened his grip around Gen’s throat, mangling his response into a strangled gasp.

“Doc, you’re killing him,” Stanley observed casually. 

“No I’m not,” Dr. Xeno replied, “I’m simply encouraging honesty.” 

Gen clenched his jaw, pulling back from Dr. Xeno’s palm, taking slow breaths through his nose. His head was arched back to maintain the tiny bit of space he’d put between Dr. Xeno’s hand and his windpipe. His vision was filled with the cloudless blue sky stretching above them. The sun burned white-hot. He felt sweat slide down the small of his back. 

“This is your last chance Gen, answer me,” Dr. Xeno loosened his grip just enough so that Gen could speak. “Where is the rest of your group?” 

Gen stared up into the smooth blue of the sky, breathing slowly. He knew no matter how he answered, Dr. Xeno would likely kill him. A tear slid down his cheek, dragging its heat across his skin. 

Just as he opened his mouth to respond he saw something twinkle as it crossed in front of the sun. His eyebrows scrunched together, squinting up into the sky. His mouth opened wider when he realized what it was. 

“Well?” Dr. Xeno said, his patience draining by the second. 

Gen looked back down at Dr. Xeno, tense expression breaking into a villainous smile. 

“I hope you liked being king of the castle while it lasted Dr. Xeno-chan,” Gen grinned, eyes narrowing.

“And just what does that mean?”

Before Gen could implement any of the snide remarks he’d thought up during his time as a captive, the roar of something growing nearer drowned out all other sound in the courtyard. The deafening sound was punctuated by a thunderous crash that blew the stone wall apart, sending pieces flying into the garden. Dr. Xeno had dropped Gen on impact and as the dust cleared it looked like they’d all been sent to flying to the ground. 

As the dust settled, it revealed the plane that Stanley had been forced to abandon, jammed half-way through the rock wall, belching smoke.

“What is this!” Dr. Xeno barked. He’d landed some distance away from where he’d thrown Gen. 

Stanley was scrambling to his feet, moving toward the doctor. 

Gen pushed himself up, supporting himself with his hands pressed into the grass, looking up at the plane that sat atop rubble which seconds ago was a wall, in awe. The top of the repaired cockpit exploded off and from the smoke Ryuusui emerged, grinning like a madman.

“How was that flying?” he asked, standing triumphantly on the top of the plane. 

“Definitely flashy,” Senku laughed, pulling himself up and out of the cockpit. 

Kohaku also popped up from the cockpit, attention immediately turning to Dr. Xeno and Stanley, who were stunned silent. She smiled dangerously at them, like a cat spotting prey.

Senku looked down at the damage they’d done to the wall and saw Gen staring up at him, wide-eyed and mouth agape. 

“Sorry for the wait, old man Kaseki was having too much fun repairing the plane.”

Gen blinked, a smile taking over his face as he laughed, “I wasn’t expecting you so soon.”

Senku snorted, sliding down the nose of the plane, landing on the grassy lawn which had been torn up by the crash. He took a step forward, extending a hand to Gen. 

“I can’t conquer the world without my mentalist.” 

From where Gen was on the ground, looking up at Senku, the sun was behind him, surrounding him in light diffused through the dust and smoke from the plane. He looked like a savior out of a movie, or maybe a dream. 

Gen took his hand, feeling the roughness of Senku’s calluses against his palm, noticing ones he hadn’t felt before, and hauled himself to his feet. 

As Senku helped Gen to his feet, Kohaku leapt off the plane, tackling Stanley to the grass. Ryuusui, still posing victoriously atop the plane, raised his arm over his head and snapped. A second later, there was an explosion of voices as Tsukasa, Ginro, Kinro, and the rest of the combat team burst into the courtyard.

Vastly outnumbered and cut off from the others in the fortress, Stanley and Dr. Xeno were easily convinced to surrender. 

“You’re quite the liar,” Dr. Xeno said, hands raised above his head, the combat team's weapons pointed at his and Stanely’s throats.

Gen grinned, “Consider it payback for always invading my personal space Dr. Xeno-chan.”

“Oh no!” a familiar voice cried, as grandpa Kaseki appeared on the top of the pile of rubble the plane perched on. “We worked for so many nights without sleep,” he bemoaned, “I knew this was going to happen but I still put my heart and soul into this plane!” 

“Hah?” Senku said, sticking a pinky in his ear. “We’ve already repaired it once. Doing it a second time will be even easier, and we’ll have the exact materials they used to make it the first time.” 

He flicked some earwax away as Chrome, Suika, and the rest of the Perseus crew scaled the remnants of the garden wall. 

“Woah!” Chrome exclaimed, starry-eyed. “This place is huge!”

“What a nice garden!” Suika gasped, scrambling down the loose rubble, jumping down to the grass, landing with her arms out at her sides to maintain her balance. 

“I’m glad you like it Suika-chan,” Gen sing-songed, “It’s a little boring since I only had one kind of flower.” 

“Gen!” Suika yelped, running to him and jumping up to hug him around his neck. “We were so worried!” she cried.

“I’m alright,” Gen said, hugging her back with a smile. “I knew you’d rescue me!”

\-----

With the other people in the fortress located and secured, Senku began investigating the fortress's scientific capabilities. He explained and imagined complex processes with so much glee and cackling that even Dr. Xeno, who’d been brought along as a guide by Tsukasa, was impressed.

Senku’s tour of the fortress factory concluded as the sun was setting. Taiju, Tsukasa, Ginro, Kinro, Mozu, and Hyoga had been set the task of freeing the plane from its stony prison so it could be repaired once more. Kaseki was instructing the team, reminding them to be careful with it and to mind their footing. 

Gen was sitting in the grass beneath one of the thin-branched trees, watching the group lift the plane out of the wall and carefully maneuver it down the unsteady heap of rubble. He plucked absent-mindedly at the grass beside him as the last orangey-red light faded, the sky turning bluish-black, stars beginning to emerge overhead. 

Senku came to stand beside him, leaning back against the tree with a sigh. They stayed like that for a while, watching the activity in the courtyard without speaking. Suika was talking excitedly with Kohaku about something. Over the scrape of the plane's metal patchwork body against the stone and the voices of the team moving it, cows mooed in the distance. Francois had disappeared in search of a proper kitchen and was surely eyeing the cattle for that night’s meal. Everyone else was probably exploring the fortress in awe. This was surely the biggest building any of the Ishigami villagers had ever seen. 

Quietly, Senku slid down to sit beside Gen, who was still absentmindedly pulling up blades of grass as he watched the garden bustle with activity.

“I’ve got some medicine for your neck,” Senku announced, uncorking a small clay pot. 

“Hmm?” Gen glanced over. “Oh, I’m alright Senku-chan. I’m sure Matsukaze-chan needs it more than me.” 

“Don’t argue, mentalist,” Senku ordered, sticking two fingers into the jar. “Turn so I can see your neck.”

“Okay, okay,” Gen relented, turning so he was facing the tree they sat under. Senku’s touch was light on his bruised skin and cold because of the balm. Gen winced when Senku brushed the part of his neck that Dr. Xeno had pressed his stone claws into; he must have done more damage than Gen had thought. 

Senku’s hand had frozen in place when Gen flinched.

“I’m okay Senku-chan,” Gen reassured him, “It just stung a little.”

“...not okay,” Senku muttered. 

How he was sitting, Gen couldn’t see Senku except out of his peripheral vision, but he looked like his head was down. 

“What was that?” 

“I said it’s not okay,” Senku repeated, straining not to raise his voice. 

Ukyo was nowhere to be seen in the courtyard but he was undoubtedly the one who sent the combat team in on Ryuusui’s signal. 

“I’m okay, Senku-chan, I promise,” Gen whispered in a soothing tone. 

“It was reckless and stupid infiltrating this place alone Gen,” Senku said, raising his head to stare him down. 

Gen turned to face Senku head-on. “I know.” 

“They have advanced weaponry,” Senku continued, voice dropping to a whisper, “Guns.”

“I know, I know. It was reckless--” 

“You could have died,” Senku said, voice barely above a breath. 

If they hadn’t been sitting so close, if Gen hadn’t been leaning forward, he might not have heard what Senku said. But he had. And it dawned on him that just as miserable and anxious as he had been, Senku must have been equally worried. Gen had been captured by a new, unknown enemy, alone. This time wasn’t like what happened in the petrification kingdom, there wasn’t a plan. They weren’t able to communicate. Senku had no idea, while he worked on repairing the plane, if Gen was even still alive. 

He just had to trust his gut that he was. 

Like Gen had trusted his feeling that they would come to get him. 

That must have been agony for Senku.

Gen reached out and grabbed Senku’s hand, the one that was between his body and the tree they sat under. He wasn’t worried about someone seeing him holding Senku’s hand, this just felt like something that should be private. Senku looked up at him, expression unexpectedly weary, this close the bags under his eyes were prominent.

Gen smiled as gently as he could, “I’m sorry Senku-chan. This was the only way I could think of to make sure Chrome and Kohaku-chan got back to you safely. I knew you’d come for me, that’s why I let myself get captured.” He squeezed Senku’s hand, leaning so closer that their hair almost brushed. “Can you forgive me?”

Senku sighed, the tension in his body melting away as he leaned forward, resting his forehead on Gen’s shoulder. Turning his face towards his neck, he squeezed Gen’s hand back. “You’re not allowed to do anything like that again without telling me.” 

“I omisepray,” Gen smiled, leaning his cheek against Senku’s head, “I never want to do something like this again. They had no sense of hospitality.” 

Senku snorted, a small smile curling his lips, “You were a prisoner, not a resort guest.” 

“Even so!” Gen exclaimed, making the scientist snort.

**Author's Note:**

> omisepray is pig latin for promise


End file.
